Applicability of Methodology in Research Proposal

While the dissertation methodology section is commonly referred to as the practical part of the proposal, its significance is far-reaching. This section comprises a practical description of the research questions to be investigated and the methods employed in the study. Specifically, the section aims to:

• Show the design of the study and the findings it will yield.
• Assess the respondents’ knowledge on the concepts under investigation.
• Provide insights into the delivery of the research with regards to budget and timeframe.

In particular, the method part of the dissertation may seem to be a neglected part of the paper. However, this paper significantly hinges on the methodology. Consequently, students must nail down the details of this section in the latter part of the paper in terms of the design, research design, and number of participants.

Structure of a Dissertation Methodology Section

This section is known as the research design or the design section. As such, one is expected to explicitly set out the components of the method section in their paper. These parts vary depending on the format of the dissertation. In addition, different schools may have different requirements regarding the format of the section, as discussed below:

Constituents of a Research Design

The research design is a defined structure, generally involving a presentation of the terms under study. Nonetheless, these elements are widely interrelated. For instance, the research design must touch on:

1. The main arguments of the dissertation.
2. Evidence to support the claims in the dissertation.
3. The development of a hypothesis and the methods necessary to carry it out.

Research Design Part I

The first part of the methodology section contains a detailed explanation of the methods chosen. The method section should be coherent, directly speaking. Subsequently, instructors will generally expect the student to list all the components of their research design in it, listed in descending order of priority. The sections should each be arranged logically, and each should present the data and findings, in that order.

For this segment, there are general guidelines to follow when arranging your data:

1. Outline out the design to be used in the study.
2. Develop a literature review section. Identify all relevant sources that can shed light on the question under investigation.
3. Identify and understand all the methodology components.

Research Design Part II

This segment generally contains discussions of the researcher’s response to the research question. It is necessary to acknowledge the information obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and observations. However, your data collection process must not extend beyond the research design part I. For the methodology part, one is expected to enumerate the tools and strategies used to collect data.

Research Design Part III

In this part, you are expected to highlight the data analysis techniques used. The strategies should be relevant to the study’s thesis. Such techniques can include tables, graphs, and charts. These methods should be such that it allows researchers to evaluate the reliability and validity of the data collected.